Making the Cut: Surgery On the Board SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Organizational Development
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Making the Cut: Surgery On the Board
Intervention, such as that performed via surgical procedures, is necessary when a board of directors is not functioning as it should. Unlike medical procedures, members of a board of directors have to perform surgery on themselves for change to occur. Board surgery might require resizing the board, invoking term limits, establishing conflict of interest policies, and increased emphasis on board member competencies. This article describes the symptoms leading to the need for surgery and suggests that it is better to perform elective surgery rather than letting problems reach the point of requiring emergency surgery.
Authors :: Victoria L. Crittenden, William F. Crittenden, Joseph M. Giglio, Andrew B. Crittenden
Swot Analysis of "Making the Cut: Surgery On the Board" written by Victoria L. Crittenden, William F. Crittenden, Joseph M. Giglio, Andrew B. Crittenden includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Surgery Board facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Making the Cut: Surgery On the Board case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Change management, Ethics, Leadership and Organizational Development.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Making the Cut: Surgery On the Board casestudy better are - – banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing commodity prices, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, technology disruption,
cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, there is backlash against globalization, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Making the Cut: Surgery On the Board
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Making the Cut: Surgery On the Board case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Surgery Board, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Surgery Board operates in.
According to Harvard Business Review, 75% of the managers use SWOT analysis for various purposes such as – evaluating current scenario, strategic planning, new venture feasibility, personal growth goals, new market entry, Go To market strategies, portfolio management and strategic trade-off assessment, organizational restructuring, etc.
SWOT Objectives / Importance of SWOT Analysis and SWOT Matrix
SWOT analysis of Making the Cut: Surgery On the Board can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Making the Cut: Surgery On the Board case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Surgery Board
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Organizational Development field.
4. Making a Organizational Development topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Surgery Board
Strengths Making the Cut: Surgery On the Board | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Surgery Board in Making the Cut: Surgery On the Board Harvard Business Review case study are -
Ability to lead change in Organizational Development field
– Surgery Board is one of the leading players in its industry. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in its segment but also across the whole industry. The ability to lead change has enabled Surgery Board in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Diverse revenue streams
– Surgery Board is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Making the Cut: Surgery On the Board case study a diverse revenue stream that has helped it to survive disruptions such as global pandemic in Covid-19, financial disruption of 2008, and supply chain disruption of 2021.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Organizational Development industry
– Making the Cut: Surgery On the Board firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Surgery Board to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Organizational Development industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Surgery Board to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Surgery Board in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Innovation driven organization
– Surgery Board is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Making the Cut: Surgery On the Board Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Surgery Board are driving operational speed, building greater agility, and keeping the organization nimble to compete with new competitors. It helps are organization to ideate new ideas, and execute them swiftly in the marketplace.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Surgery Board in the sector have low bargaining power. Making the Cut: Surgery On the Board has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Surgery Board to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Analytics focus
– Surgery Board is putting a lot of focus on utilizing the power of analytics in business decision making. This has put it among the leading players in the industry. The technology infrastructure suggested by Victoria L. Crittenden, William F. Crittenden, Joseph M. Giglio, Andrew B. Crittenden can also help it to harness the power of analytics for – marketing optimization, demand forecasting, customer relationship management, inventory management, information sharing across the value chain etc.
Learning organization
- Surgery Board is a learning organization. It has inculcated three key characters of learning organization in its processes and operations – exploration, creativity, and expansiveness. The work place at Surgery Board is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Making the Cut: Surgery On the Board Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Surgery Board has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Surgery Board has effective processes in place that helps in exploring new product needs, doing quick pilot testing, and then launching the products quickly using its extensive distribution network.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Making the Cut: Surgery On the Board Harvard Business Review case study comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the industry, building diversified operations across different geographies so that disruption in one part of the world doesn’t impact the overall performance of the firm, and integrating the various business operations and processes through its digital transformation drive.
Organizational Resilience of Surgery Board
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Surgery Board does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Weaknesses Making the Cut: Surgery On the Board | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Making the Cut: Surgery On the Board are -
Lack of clear differentiation of Surgery Board products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Surgery Board needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Making the Cut: Surgery On the Board that the firm needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department in the case Making the Cut: Surgery On the Board can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Surgery Board is planning to shift buying processes online.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Surgery Board has not been able to do capital spending to the tune of the competition. This has resulted into fewer innovations and company facing stiff competition from both existing competitors and new entrants who are disrupting the industry using digital technology.
High dependence on existing supply chain
– The disruption in the global supply chains because of the Covid-19 pandemic and blockage of the Suez Canal illustrated the fragile nature of Surgery Board supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Making the Cut: Surgery On the Board, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Surgery Board vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Making the Cut: Surgery On the Board has high operating costs in the. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Surgery Board 's lucrative customers.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Surgery Board is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Organizational Development segment. Surgery Board needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Surgery Board to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Making the Cut: Surgery On the Board, in the dynamic environment Surgery Board has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Surgery Board has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Need for greater diversity
– Surgery Board has taken concrete steps on diversity, equity, and inclusion. But the efforts so far has resulted in limited success. It needs to expand the recruitment and selection process to hire more people from the minorities and underprivileged background.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Making the Cut: Surgery On the Board HBR case study mentions - Surgery Board takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the industry in last five years.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Making the Cut: Surgery On the Board, it seems that the employees of Surgery Board don’t have comprehensive understanding of the firm’s strategy. This is reflected in number of promotional campaigns over the last few years that had mixed messaging and competing priorities. Some of the strategic activities and services promoted in the promotional campaigns were not consistent with the organization’s strategy.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Surgery Board has some of the most successful products in the industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. firm in the HBR case study - Making the Cut: Surgery On the Board should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Opportunities Making the Cut: Surgery On the Board | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities highlighted in the Harvard Business Review case study Making the Cut: Surgery On the Board are -
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Surgery Board to expand its talent hiring zone. According to McKinsey Global Institute, 20% of the high end workforce in fields such as finance, information technology, can continously work from remote local post Covid-19. This presents a really great opportunity for Surgery Board to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Surgery Board can still utilize the low interest rates to borrow money for capital investment. Secondly it can also use the increase of government spending in infrastructure projects to get new business.
Loyalty marketing
– Surgery Board has focused on building a highly responsive customer relationship management platform. This platform is built on in-house data and driven by analytics and artificial intelligence. The customer analytics can help the organization to fine tune its loyalty marketing efforts, increase the wallet share of the organization, reduce wastage on mainstream advertising spending, build better pricing strategies using personalization, etc.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Surgery Board in the consumer business. Now Surgery Board can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Surgery Board has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in the sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled, as illustrated in the Harvard case study Making the Cut: Surgery On the Board - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Surgery Board to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Organizational Development industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Surgery Board can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Surgery Board to increase its market reach. Surgery Board will be able to reach out to new customers. Secondly 5G will also provide technology framework to build new tools and products that can help more immersive consumer experience and faster consumer journey.
Developing new processes and practices
– Surgery Board can develop new processes and procedures in Organizational Development industry using technology such as automation using artificial intelligence, real time transportation and products tracking, 3D modeling for concept development and new products pilot testing etc.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Surgery Board is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Making the Cut: Surgery On the Board case study suggests that firm can utilize new technology to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Surgery Board has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Surgery Board to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Making the Cut: Surgery On the Board case study. Surgery Board can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Surgery Board can build a diversified supply chain model across various countries in - South East Asia, India, and other parts of the world. This reconfiguration of global supply chain can help, as suggested in case study, Making the Cut: Surgery On the Board, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Reconfiguring business model
– The expansion of digital payment system, the bringing down of international transactions costs using Bitcoin and other blockchain based currencies, etc can help Surgery Board to reconfigure its entire business model. For example it can used blockchain based technologies to reduce piracy of its products in the big markets such as China. Secondly it can use the popularity of e-commerce in various developing markets to build a Direct to Customer business model rather than the current Channel Heavy distribution network.
Buying journey improvements
– Surgery Board can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Making the Cut: Surgery On the Board suggest that firm can provide automated chats to help consumers solve their own problems, provide online suggestions to get maximum out of the products and services, and help consumers to build a community where they can interact with each other to develop new features and uses.
Threats Making the Cut: Surgery On the Board External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Making the Cut: Surgery On the Board are -
New competition
– After the dotcom bust of 2001, financial crisis of 2008-09, the business formation in US economy had declined. But in 2020 alone, there are more than 1.5 million new business applications in United States. This can lead to greater competition for Surgery Board in the Organizational Development sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Surgery Board is facing in Organizational Development sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Surgery Board in the Organizational Development industry. The Organizational Development industry is already at various protected from local competition in China, with the rise of trade war the protection levels may go up. This presents a clear threat of current business model in Chinese market.
Technology disruption because of hacks, piracy etc
– The colonial pipeline illustrated, how vulnerable modern organization are to international hackers, miscreants, and disruptors. The cyber security interruption, data leaks, etc can seriously jeopardize the future growth of the organization.
Instability in the European markets
– European Union markets are facing three big challenges post Covid – expanded balance sheets, Brexit related business disruption, and aggressive Russia looking to distract the existing security mechanism. Surgery Board will face different problems in different parts of Europe. For example it will face inflationary pressures in UK, France, and Germany, balance sheet expansion and demand challenges in Southern European countries, and geopolitical instability in the Eastern Europe.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Making the Cut: Surgery On the Board, Surgery Board may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Organizational Development .
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Surgery Board high dependence on third party suppliers can disrupt its processes and delivery mechanism. For example -the current troubles of car makers because of chip shortage is because the chip companies started producing chips for electronic companies rather than car manufacturers.
Aging population
– As the populations of most advanced economies are aging, it will lead to high social security costs, higher savings among population, and lower demand for goods and services in the economy. The household savings in US, France, UK, Germany, and Japan are growing faster than predicted because of uncertainty caused by pandemic.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Surgery Board with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Surgery Board can face downward pressure on margins from increasing competition from international players. The international players have stable revenue in their home market and can use those resources to penetrate prominent markets illustrated in HBR case study Making the Cut: Surgery On the Board .
Capital market disruption
– During the Covid-19, Dow Jones has touched record high. The valuations of a number of companies are way beyond their existing business model potential. This can lead to capital market correction which can put a number of suppliers, collaborators, value chain partners in great financial difficulty. It will directly impact the business of Surgery Board.
High level of anxiety and lack of motivation
– the Great Resignation in United States is the sign of broader dissatisfaction among the workforce in United States. Surgery Board needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Organizational Development industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Regulatory challenges
– Surgery Board needs to prepare for regulatory challenges as consumer protection groups and other pressure groups are vigorously advocating for more regulations on big business - to reduce inequality, to create a level playing field, to product data privacy and consumer privacy, to reduce the influence of big money on democratic institutions, etc. This can lead to significant changes in the Organizational Development industry regulations.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Making the Cut: Surgery On the Board Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers in the HBR case study Making the Cut: Surgery On the Board needs to zero down on the relative importance of each factor mentioned in the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants.
We can provide the relative importance to each factor by assigning relative weights. Weighted SWOT analysis process is a three stage process –
First stage for doing weighted SWOT analysis of the case study Making the Cut: Surgery On the Board is to rank the strengths and weaknesses of the organization. This will help you to assess the most important strengths and weaknesses of the firm and which one of the strengths and weaknesses mentioned in the initial lists are marginal and can be left out.
Second stage for conducting weighted SWOT analysis of the Harvard case study Making the Cut: Surgery On the Board is to give probabilities to the external strategic factors thus better understanding the opportunities and threats arising out of macro environment changes and developments.
Third stage of constructing weighted SWOT analysis of Making the Cut: Surgery On the Board is to provide strategic recommendations includes – joining likelihood of external strategic factors such as opportunities and threats to the internal strategic factors – strengths and weaknesses. You should start with external factors as they will provide the direction of the overall industry. Secondly by joining probabilities with internal strategic factors can help the company not only strategic fit but also the most probably strategic trade-off that Surgery Board needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.